The coldest winter I ever spent
Archive for January 2010
I’m excited about this! I ran into this problem just the other day, trying to make a list while qualifying the listees at the same time. I’m a big fan of the semicolon but didn’t know that I could do this! What do you think, is this kosher?
(via, and they tell you how to use a semicolon for other, less nefarious purposes too!)
Cracked.com has more well researched SCIENCE than the news.
Read this article about The 6 Most Statistically Full of Shit Professions.
And follow the links. This is science people! And it’s awesome too.
I’m using wikis more and more for business. I have a lot of content that I need access to on a daily basis. I need to be assured of having access to this data wherever I go. Some examples include the phone numbers and addresses for my tutoring clients, shopping lists for my classes, todo items for my business.
What I want is an application to crawl each of my several private mediawiki sites and make them available offline on my iPhone.
Some products that almost fit the bill include:
Do you know of an application that can do this? Or maybe you’ll like to write it, becoming rich and famous?
It’s San Francisco!
They were delicious.
It was a crazy event!
I met some cupcakeers. They were intensely into … CUPCAKES!
I met a woman from Holland and man from Estonia who had never eaten a cupcake before!
I saw Avatar in 3D at the Metreon with Stacy. It’s pretty, awesome, and pretty awesome.
Totally beautiful, sumptuous visuals, gorgeous realization of an alternate world. And the aliens are totally hot!
I should write more about it but I’m short on time. So here’s bullet points:
the first 1/2 of the movie hurt my eyes with the 3D, maybe they were pushing objects forward of the screen with the effects instead of behind the screen? The 2nd half had less issue with this. Coraline was crisper in 3d, but that was at the Alameda theater and done with real claymation.
CGI or costumes?! Wow, it’s really hard to tell. Must have been both.
They got the helicopter sounds wrong! The most common flying machine in the movie is this totally awesome looking “scorpion gunship”. Each of the 2 “wings” has 2 co-axial counter-rotating 3 bladed propellers in a ducted fan. So it would sound a lot like the “woooooo” of a jet engine. Maybe with a bit of resonance, like “wooowooowooowooo” But the sound effect they used is that of a regular 2 bladed helicopter, going “Tuh Tuh Tuh Tuh”. Every time I heard the sound (which was a lot toward the end with all the crashing and smashing of those machines!) I cringed :-(
Ooo, pretty!
I can imagine it being worth seeing it in IMAX. But there were no good showtimes at the Metreon :-(
Yup, the 3D movie experience has saved modern cinema from being outmoded by large screen televisions in peoples’ homes.
Exploring the world reminded me of this fantasy book I read that had lots of word-play with real magical hangman trees and steaming bread trees… Argh, I don’t recall the name!
Update 3-14-10: Xanth!
Just do 5 minutes of googling and you’ll realize that Fungisil is a scam. It’s almost definitely made by the same people that make Zetaclear.
Why do I say it’s a scam?
————————————————–
There are many discussions about nail fungus going on on my blog. Search my blog for the word “fungus” for more.
My friend Laura in Manhattan needs some help. She describes it well so here is her letter to me
I previously wrote about this and got some help, thanks!
The Facts:
My apartment was destroyed on Oct 24th by my upstairs neighbor who opened a hot water main and flooded out the three units beneath hers.
There is no power, the kitchen has been demolished completely, no one can live there.
After three months waiting while insurance companies point the finger at each-other, I’ve been forced to file a lawsuit last week.
We named in the suit: Jeannette, (the neighbor who caused the destruction), the co-op, the board of directors of the co-op, the management company of the co-op.
We tried to get approval to start reconstruction on my dime so my place would not continue to rot and I could get home sooner, but the co-op won’t sign the alteration agreement.
I have been living in a hotel suite that State Farm has been paying for. They will stop paying as of February 11th. This hotel costs almost $7k a month so no way can I stay here.
This could take a year to even get to trial. We are hoping for a summary judgment before then but must be ready for the worst- what my attorney calls The Doomsday Plan.
When it does get to trial or in front of a judge, we WILL win; no one is arguing the facts, just which insurance — co-op’s or Jeanette’s — should pay for what.
I have a good lawyer but he does not have a magic wand. He is very expensive, this will probably be $20-30K in lawyers’ fees, which I may or may not ever recoup.
I have a wonderful mother who will help me financially, but she is not rich.
The Primary Need:
A place to live, hopefully in Manhattan, while this process labors on. At least for three months, more likely for six, maybe even longer if we are forced to go to trial.
This place must also take my kitty.
Best case it would be furnished. But I could move my furniture in if it would be a long term arrangement.
The place must be large enough that I can do some work.
Secondary Needs:
A licensed architect who can do drawings for the permit. I can do the preliminary drawings in CAD but need the pro for the permit, (at a great price).
Physical help when the time comes to move. Marriott may let me stay a few extra days at a cut rate so it would probably be the weekend of 13th and 14th.
A job.
What You Can Do:
Put your network on alert to help me find a temporary home.
Help me find an architect who will work at a low rate or even contingency. It’s very little work on their part, just must have it right so don’t break any laws.
Volunteer to help me move when I must- esp. if you have a car. Be my Valentine?
Let me know of any small or large design or acting jobs. Hell, any jobs at all-I must get back to work.
Help me appease whatever Gods I’ve apparently angered-Pray, Chant, speak in tongues, holy water, sacrifice — Anything!!!
The Emotions:
Overwhelmed
Frustrated
Sad
Angry
Frightened
Did I mention Overwhelmed?Hopeful, still hopeful it will all be okay some day.
Grateful that I know lots of good people.
Xoxo, L
If you can help or know someone that might be able to, please comment here, email Laura at ljhanna at verizon dat net or call her at 917 + 796 – 7682.
There’s all this chatter on the Noisebridge list. Someone working on an important new Calendar and Room Reservation System asked for brainstorming on what the system needed. I gave some feedback. 50 chatty/bitchy posts on the subject later I wrote some more feedback. I notice that the wiki Todo list was updated with my comments both times and precious few other times.
I felt tempted to dive in to the chat/bitch fest but I held my tongue/fingers because it didn’t seem like any benefit could come of it. After my second email I even got an email asking me to stop submitting feedback because, well the author didn’t say it in as many words and didn’t mean it in a mean way but, because my email wasn’t part of the bitching.
I done good.
I’ll be teaching a breadmaking class at the Institute of Urban Homesteading Open House on May 16th. Hopefully that will lead to many more bread making classes :-)
My biography is now on the Faculty page of the IUH website (was here) :-)
Lee Sonko http://lee.org
Lee Sonko is an entrepreneur, educator, machine artist, organizer, hacker, geek and baker. Those attributes often team up in his life to help explore the world. He is a founding member of SWARM, a San Francisco based mechatronic art robot group. He is also a member of the Flaming Lotus Girls and teaching faculty at The Crucible in Oakland. Lee’s love affair with good bread goes back as long as he can remember. Making and eating bread is his daily reminder of the simplicity and purity of the experience of creation.